'Replace SRK with Ganguly as Bengal brand ambassador': BJP to Mamata over ICC remark

The BJP on Monday asked West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to appoint Sourav Ganguly as the state’s brand ambassador in place of Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan if she is “so concerned” about the former Indian cricket captain.

Leader of the opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, made the statement shortly after Banerjee said she was shocked that Ganguly was “deprived” of a second term as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president.

Roger Binny, a 1983 World Cup-winning team member, will replace Ganguly as the BCCI president when the Board holds its AGM on Tuesday in Mumbai. Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah will continue as the BCCI Secretary for a second consecutive term.

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Alleging that the TMC supremo is trying to politicise the issue and arouse Bengali sentiment, Adhikari asked her to appoint Ganguly as the state’s brand ambassador.

Reacting to this, the TMC said that the issue of the brand ambassador should not be mixed up with Ganguly’s "unceremonious exit" from the BCCI.

"As usual, she is trying to politicise the issue and flare up Bengali sentiment around Sourav Ganguly. There is no politics in it but she is trying to find one by shedding crocodile tears.

“If she is so concerned about Sourav Ganguly, why didn't she appoint him as the brand ambassador (of West Bengal) instead of Shah Rukh Khan? She should immediately appoint him as the brand ambassador," Adhikari told a press conference here.

Khan was appointed as the brand ambassador of West Bengal in 2012, a year after the TMC came to power in the state.

Also Read | Shocked that Sourav Ganguly was deprived of second term as BCCI president: Mamata Banerjee

BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya wondered whether Binny had contributed less to Indian cricket.

“Sourav Ganguly is an icon. Roger Binny, too, is a member of the (1983) World Cup winning side. Is he less eligible for that post? BCCI is an autonomous body, unlike sports bodies in West Bengal, which the TMC leaders are helming. The chief minister is trying to divert attention from various other issues," he said.

The TMC claimed that the BJP is trying to mix up two completely separate issues.

"The way Sourav Ganguly has been humiliated is unacceptable. As the BJP could not induct him into the party, he was removed most unceremoniously. We condemn it. This has nothing to do with the issue of the brand ambassador," TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.

West Bengal Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury wondered why it took so long for Banerjee to react on the issue.

"Maybe she realised late that that issue is important for Bengalis. We all want Sourav to be appointed BCCI president," he said.

The TMC earlier claimed that it is an example of ‘political vendetta’ that Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah can continue as the BCCI Secretary for a second term but Ganguly can’t do so as its president.

The TMC had also accused the BJP of “trying to humiliate” the former Indian skipper as it failed to induct him into the party.

Ganguly, at one time, was rumoured to be the man BJP wanted to rope in for a leadership role in the party’s West Bengal unit, as it was looking for a face to counter Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s charisma.

However, the master cricketer has steered away from politics, confining himself to cricket administration till now.